And james m



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. P. WIGGINS & J. M. POLLARD.

BALING PRESS.

No. 462,753. Patented Nov. 10,1891.

INVEJVTORS ITJVESSES yam/Mm (No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 2.

G P. WIGGINS & J. M. POLLARD. BALING PRESS.

No. 462,758. Patented Nov. 10,1891.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

O. P. WIGGINS & J. M. POLLARD.

BALING PRESS.

No. 462,753. Patented Nov. 10,1891.

WITNESSES 1.7V VEJV TOR S Jittorney NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES P. VIGGINS, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, AND JAMES M. POLLARD, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BALlNG-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,753, dated November 10, 1891. Application filed October 21, 1890. Serial No. 868,849. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES P. \VIGGINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Meniphis, in the county of Shelby and State of Tennessee, and JAMES M. POLLARD, a citizen of the United States, residing; at \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Baling- Presses; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to presses for baling fibrous material, particularly lint-cotton, and the objects thereof are to make a press that will be more rapid in action than any of its class that have been heretofore employed, yet economical in the use of steam, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and easily understood and operated. iVe are in the construction of such a press confronted by two difficulties that are well understood by all designers of machines for this purpose. In the reduction of six hundred pounds of lint-cot ton into a compact bale theresistance to compression is at first almost nothing,increasing as the density of the bale increases, but in a geometrical ratio, so that toward the end of the process a very great pressure is necessary. To make such a bale requires a box twelve feet in length, which is filled with lint-cotton as closely as can be accomplished by manual effort, and the cotton is then forced into two and a half or three feet of one end of the box constituting the baling-chamber. The resistance increases over the first two-thirds of the stroke somewhat more rapidly than would be the ratio in compressing air into a cylinder of the same length, and then increases still more rapidly over the remaining space, the expenditure of power being best represented by a hyperbolic curve with the vertex at two -thirds of the space traversed. A very complicated system of levers can be made to approxi matel y follow this curve in their relations of power to space traversed; but all presses constructed 011 this theory have gradually been abandoned in favor of three systemsviz., the screw, the hydraulic ram, and the di reet steam- The hydraulic ram is very conservative ram of power. The screw absorbs a larger percentage in friction, the. 30th are much used, though too slow in action to meet modern requirements. The direct steam-ram is expensive to construct and keep in repair and is extremely wasteful of steam, requiring a cylinder twenty-eight to thirty inches in diameter and a stroke of ten feet. The waste of energy with this device is shown by the fact that three pounds of steam-pressure will start the ram and that twenty-five pounds will move it two-thirds of the stroke, while to finish the bale the cylinder must then be filled with steam at the maximum or greatestboiler-pressure, usually in excess of one hundred pounds per square inch. There is, moreover, in cold weather an almost incredible waste from condensation. This press is very rapid in action, and is on this account much used. The screw and hydraulic presses move uniformly with a slow and powerful leverage that is only required at the extreme end of the stroke,'thus wasting five-sixths of the time. The steamram consumes over the entire stroke the enormous power only needed at the end of the stroke, thus wasting five sixths of the power.

The objects of our invention will now be best understood as avoiding the objectionable features of the steam and hydraulic rams, while securing the speed of the one and the power of the other. To these ends we combine them in one device.

Our invention consists in a hydraulic ram for moving the platen, in a second or water cylinder which we shall term the reservoin cylinder, the water from which is forced by direct steam-pressure into the ram-cylinder, in a continuously-acting double force-pump, and in combinations of the same with each other.

()ur invention further consists in a slidevalve and quadrant for regulating the steam and water on t-off mechanisn1s,in an automatic valve for controlling and modifying the various devices, in the combination of these parts, and also in minor details of construction.

In the drawings, Figure 1 isa side elevation of the working parts of our press complete in all essential features. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is a view in vertical with a steam-boiler.

section of our improved valve, and Fig. 4- is a detail of the valves of the same.

\Ve do not in the drawings show the steamboiler or the details of the hydraulic pump or the press-box, platen, &c., since these constitute no part of our present invention. It will suffice in explanation of this to state that a steam-pipe 26, leading from a boiler, delivers steam at constant pressure into the valvechest 25,that the hydraulic pump 8 runs continuously while the press is in operation, and that the press-box and baling-chamber may be of any preferred construction and arranged for either single or "multiple charges to make a bale of cotton or such other material as is being acted upon. The ram 1 is of the usual hydraulic type, inclosed in a strong cylinder 2, in which it reciprocates, said casing being attached to or integral with a packing-collar 3, resting upon a broad flange at, which is supported upon the sill-timbers 5 and 6 of the press. A second and preferably slightly larger reservoir-cylinder 7, closed at each end and normally filled with Water, is placed alongside of the ram-cylinder and in the same vertical and horizontal plane, this feature of the two cylinders having led to our adoption of the name Duplex cylinder press, by which it is wellknown in the Southern States.

The double cylinder and plunger forcepump 8 is rigidly attached to the sills of the press and takes water by suction from the cylinder 7 through the pipes 9, 10,11, and 12, alternately, to the cylinders 13 and 14:. The water is forced from these cylinders into the pipe 15, and thence through pipe 16 to the central chamber 17 of the valve 18. Here, acting upon the valves 19 and 20, it closes the former and raises the latter, passing through the pipe 21 to the ram-cylinder 2. A pipe 22, opening from the bottom of cylinder 7, connects with pipe 21 by a combined T and check valve 23, so arranged as to permit an upward flow through pipe 22 into pipe 21, but to close by gravity and prevent flow in a reverse direction. A pipe 24: connects the top of cylinder 7 with a valve-chest 25, and a pipe 26 connects said valve-chest The steam-chest is provided with a Valve 27 and discharge-pipe 28, said valve being adjustable by means of a quadrant and lever 29 to three positions viz., the first, as shown, admitting steam from the boiler to cylinder 7 the next or central notch of the quadrant to cut off the steam at the mouth of pipe 24, and the third to open the connection between pipes 24 and 28 to exhaust the steam from cylinder 7.

It will be seen that the operation of this mechanism so far as it has been described will be as follows: WVith the valve 27 in the position shown and the pump 8 running, the water in cylinder 7 will be forced by the steam-pressure through pipes 22 and 21 into the ram-cylinder, and the steam-pressure will force the water from cylinder 7 to the suction side of the pump through pipes 9 and 10,

to be forced by the pump through pipes'15 and 16 to and through the valve, and thence through pipe 21 to the ram-cylinder, the pro cess being very rapid so long as the resistance to the movement of the ram is below the pressure of the steam. \Vhenever the ram is resisted, owing to the increasing density of the cotton by aforce equal to that of the steam-pressure upon its sectional area, the pressure in pipes 22 and 21 is equalized and the check-valve 23 closes, the ram being thenceforward to the end of its stroke actuated by the pump alone. When the quadrant-lever 29 is moved from the position shown to the centralposition or notch, it not only cuts off the steam from cylinder 7, but at the same time by means of the rod 30 and lever 31 unseats valve 19 of the valve, thus opening a connection between the central chamber 17 and lower chamber 17 of the valve. This movement is just sufficient to bring the extension-stem of valve 19 in contact with, though without unseating, valve 20. The chamber 17 connects by means of pipe 9 with .pipe 10 and the suction side of the pump, whence it results that in this position the water, under whatever there may be of uncondensed steam pressure in cylinder 7, merely circulates from the pump to the valve, downward through the latter and back again to the pump through pipes 9 and 10, and this because the pressure in the ram-cylinder and pipe 21 at once closes valve 20 when valve 19 is raised. The ram in this position of the quadrant is therefore held in fixed position wherever it happened to be when the quadrant was moved to the middle notch. This feature is employed while applying the covering and bands to the bale. When the quadrant is moved to the third or last position, the

valve 27 extends its exhaust-opening across pipes 24: and 28, and the steam in cylinder 7 escapes into the atmosphere. At the same time the valve-lever 31 is raised, lifting valve 19 still farther from its seat and unseating valve 20, establishing free communication from the ram-cylinder 2 through pipes 21, the valve, and pipes 9 and 9 to cylinder 7. The ram at once descends by its weight, forcing the water-through the channels named back into cylinder 7.

It should be understood that the pump during the processes described continues in motion, the Water circulating as has been described.

Assuming the steam-pressure at one hunpressure becomes more slow, u ntihas the pressures are equalized, the valve 23 closes and the ram is then actuated by the pump alone. The pump runs with uniform speed, irrespective of the pressure in the ram-cylinder, and completes the pressure of the bale with uniform movement of the ram, but with steadily-increasing pressure per square inch of its area, this pressure reaching four to six hundred pounds per square inch; but the pressure of one hundred pounds per square inch upon the surface of the water in cylinder 7 continues to act upon the suction side of the pump, relieving the latter of that amount of work. For instance, when the resistance to the ram is five hundred pounds per square inch the pump is working against that pressure, but is aided by the pressure on the suction side of its valves and pistons, so that it is really subjected to a strain of but four hundred pounds per square inch. This, in addition to lessening the work of the pump, is of paramount importance, because of the quick and positive lift secured in all the valves and the certain filling of the cylinders with water, even when the latter is considerably heated, as it is in our device.

A float of cork or other suitable material nearly filling the diameter of cylinder 7 rests upon the surface of the water in said cylinder and serves to a great extent to prevent condensation of steam. Such as is condensed, however, in excess of the capacity of the cylinders is forced out with the exhaust-steam when the rain is lowered.

The final pressure upon the bale is, as has been stated, several hundred pounds per square inch of the ram, and it is then extremely difficult to lift the valves 19 and 20 of the valve even with the very considerable leverage illustrated. To remedy this difficulty We have designed auxiliary valves 19 and 20, Fig. 4:, which are first lifted, so that the pressures in the chambers of the valve are equalized before the main valves are raised. \Vith this construction the quadrant is easily moved to any position.

The bed-plate of the pump is square and the bolt-holes equidistant from each other, so that the pump may be attached with its shaft and driving-pulley parallel with or at a right angle to the sills of the press. This plan admits of setting the press with either of its sides to the jack-shaft or source of power, and to further facilitate this the pump is made to take and discharge the water centrally of its length. The operation is as follows: A charge of cotton is placed in the pressbox and the quadrant moved to the position shown in the drawings, thus bringing the steam-pressure to bear upon the surface of the water in cylinder 7, and at the same time closing valve 19 and raising valve 20 of the valve and opening valve 23.

With a multiplecharge press, requiring three charges of about two hundred pounds each to make a bale, the first charge is comthirds to three-fourths of the stroke in thirty seconds or less, and the remainder of the work is then accomplished by the pump alone in one or two minutes, varying with the quantity of lint and character of the fiber. \Vhen the latter is very dry, it is much more difhcult to compress, and the steam-pressure cannot advance the ram nearly as fast or as far as with the same bulk of damp fiber. Again, with care much more lint-cotton may be put in the box before pressing than when this is carelessly or hastily performed, so that an 111- definite portion of the stroke of the ram must in each instance be left to the pump alone. The cessation of action by the steam-pressure is, however, in all causes automatic, so thatit requires no attention from the operator, and itwill be seen that this pressure is the main agent in transferring the water from cylinder 7 to the ram-cylinder and advances the ram very quickly over the greater portion of the stroke, while the pump, though moving the ram but a short distance, does the greater part of the work, though doing it as a matter of necessity more slowlythat is to say, we secure speed over the first part of the stroke where the work is light and performed with little expenditure of power, and automatically substitute for the quick movement the instant that it becomes inoperative the slower and more powerful hydraulic pump.

\Ve do not limit our invention to the exact method described. e have employed in lieu of cylinder '7 and steam-pressure a larger and longer cylinder closed at the top and filled with compressed air, and have then pumped water into said cylinder, so as to still further compress the air, and have utilized this pressure to quickly force the water into the ramcylinder. Neither do we limit ourselves to the mechanical arrangements orcombinations of parts herein shown and described, as these may be greatly varied within the limits of our invention. The methods and devices herein described have, however, met all requirements and appear to be best adapted to our purposes.

Having thus describcd our invention, we claim- 1. In a press, the combination of the pump and the hydraulic cylinder and ram with the reservoir-cylinder 7, having the pipe 2i at or near its upper end, and the pipes 9 and 22, leading from the lower end thereof, the former leading to the pump and the latter to the ram, as and for the purpose described.

2. In a press, the hydraulic cylinder and ram, in combination with the reservoir-cylinder '7, a pump intermediate of the two and taking water from said reservoir-cylinder, and

IIO

means for inducing pressure upon the surface of the water, as shown and described.

In a press, the hydraulic cylinder and ram, the reservoir-cylinder containing water under pressure, connections between the cyllnders provided with an automatic checkvalve to prevent return flow of water, and a pump arranged to take Water from said reservoir-cylinder and deliver it to the ram-cyllnder, as shown and described.

at. In a press, the hydraulic cylinder and ram and the reservoir-cylinder containing water under pressure, in combination with a pump taking water from said reservoir-cylinder under pressure and forcing, it to the ramcylinder, substantially as specified.

5. In a press comprising a hydraulic cylinder and ram, a reservoir containing water un- 

